Offer Automatically Declined?

[mhenry100]

Hi,

I have an item on auction. It is listed at a minimum price. I received an offer from a buyer but when I hit "respond", I saw it was automatically declined. I'm not sure why. I have attempted to alter my price description but eBay indicated I cannot edit the description since I have had bids. I'm at a loss. If I contact the buyer, is there a way to sell directly to the person who made the offer? What am I doing wrong? Thanks so much.

[woodland_gnome]

Writers of error messages sometimes use inaccurate wording.  In this case they use "declined" where they should have used "expired" (all pending offers and counteroffers expire automatically upon the first bid on the auction).